


Rotting Wood

by Mixx_Fandom



Category: Total Drama (Cartoon)
Genre: Childhood Trauma, Dissociation, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Mal has a potty mouth, Multiple Personalities, also screw the reset button, this is lowkey a vent fic, this is my first fanfiction for this fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:00:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25633213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mixx_Fandom/pseuds/Mixx_Fandom
Summary: “Mal?”He finally looked back at her with a sharp stare.“I’m gonna jump over this fence.”“Want me to come with you?”“Whatever you want, I guess. I honestly don’t care.”
Relationships: Mal & Zoey (Total Drama), Mike/Zoey (Total Drama)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 41





	Rotting Wood

“Where are we going?” Zoey asked.

Mal responded sharply,” You’ll find out when we get there.”

_ ‘It’s so weird how Mal and Mike share the same body yet have such different voices. However, I guess it applies to the other alters as well.’ _

It was lightly raining outside, but it was just enough for the windshield wipers to be turned on. Even though it was 2 pm, the day looked gray, with the dark clouds blocking the sun.

“Okay, so why are you doing this?”

“It sounds like you think I’m up to something bad.”

“Well given past experiences, I don’t think you should blame me.”

Zoey received an eye roll at that.

“What does it even matter to you what I’m doing?” Mal asked.

“Um, because you could be putting Mike and the others in danger. Plus, I would like to know where I am going.”

“You ask too many questions, it’s annoying. Shut up and I’ll tell you later.”

Zoey groaned and looked out the window.

* * *

Zoey noticed the car had stopped. She had been watching two raindrops racing on the window to try to pass the type. The rain had turned into mist.

“We’re here.” She heard Mal say.

She looked out the window and saw a one-story suburban house. It was worn down and was dirty with rotten wood in some places. 

“You drove me 40 minutes to come and look at an abandoned home.”

“God, for the umpteenth time, I’ll explain later.”

They both got out of the car and walked up to the sidewalk to look at the timeworn house.

“Can you at least tell me why we’re here?” Zoey asked turning her head towards Mal.

Mal rolled his eyes and sighed out of annoyance.

“I have to prove that I can be trusted.” He responded not looking back at her. 

“So you brought us to a-“

“Janky-ass house? Yep.” Mal interrupted. 

Zoey tilted her head at him. 

_ ‘He may not be trying to sabotage everyone anymore, but he’s still an asshole.’ _

Both of them stood on the sidewalk and looked onward the house. Zoey started to inspect

the house from the outside but found nothing interesting. She looked toward Mal again, and he was staring at the house as well. She stood there looking at the scenery around her for about a minute or so before she spoke up.

“So, are we going to do anything?” She asked, exaggerating the so.

Mal sighed once more,” Fucking pushy,” he snapped at her.

“Woah, don’t get mad at me. You’re the one that’s not been answering any of my questions,” she said with her hands up in the air. 

“I told you why we were here.”

“Yeah, in the most general and confusing way possible.” 

Zoey was frankly, very annoyed with Mal. 

_ ‘Maybe, I prefer destructive Mal over mysterious Mal?’ _

Zoey looked down at the ground once again and considered going back into the car before she heard Mal speak again.

“I need to go to the backyard.” 

‘What?’

“I’m, sorry, what?”

“God damn, are you deaf? I need to go to the backyard.”

Zoey stood there looking at Mal with a confused face.

“Okay. Lead the way.”

Mal hesitates before he started walking towards the right side of the house. 

* * *

As they walked the right side of the house, Zoey noticed that there were a bunch of trees.

_ ‘How come I didn’t notice there was an entire forest behind this house?’ _

A few seconds later both of them reached the back of the house where the backyard was surrounded by a fence. Zoey looked towards the other houses in the neighborhood.

_ ‘The houses are spread pretty far apart from each other.’ _

Zoey was shaken from her daze when she felt a raindrop land against her shoulder. She realized that Mal was still just looking at the fence.

“What are you gonna do?” she asked.

Mal kept on staring at the backyard over the fence without acknowledging Zoey.

“Mal?”

He finally looked back at her with a sharp stare.

“I’m gonna jump over this fence.”

“Want me to come with you?”

“Whatever you want, I guess. I honestly don’t care.”

The fence was brown and had rotten wood that matched the house. It wasn’t that y’all either. It was pretty average, and even though it would take some work to get over it, it wouldn’t be hard.

“Well, you brought me all this way, so I suppose I will,” Zoey said with her arms crossed. 

She watched Mal turn towards the fence and put his hands on the top of it. He pulled up and jumped a bit as he swung his leg over the side. He then swung his other leg, and it looked like he was sitting for a split second before he pushed off into the backyard.

Zoey went after him and replicated his moves until she was standing in the backyard of the house with him. 

The ground was muddy from the rain, and probably previous rains. There wasn’t much vegetation, so the whole yard was practically mud.

On the other side of the yard, she saw a shed. It looked like a normal old garden shed, except it had rotten wood just like the house and the fence. It’s almost as if this whole place was rotting.

“I have to find and retrieve something.”

Zoey looked at him confused again.

“What?”

Mal didn’t respond and instead looked around the backyard and returned his gaze to the shed.

Zoey sighed. “Want me to help look for it?”

Mal turned to her. “You can follow, I guess, but I need to be the one to do this.”

“Well lead the way… again.”

Mal straightened his back and then started to walk slowly to the outdoor shed.

* * *

Zoey looked at the shed, and it wasn’t all that different up close. The roof of the shed was a lighter brown than the rest of it, and there was only one door to get into the shed. She also noticed that there were no windows. 

Zoey turned towards Mal. His brows were furrowed even more than they were normally. He kind of looked like he was staring at the shed’s door, but it looked more like he was staring into space. 

“Is something wrong?” Zoey asked to gain his attention.

Mal blinked several times before turning back to her slowly. 

“No. I’m fine,” Mal said but Zoey had a hard time believing that.

_ ‘Mike sometimes does that also.’ _

It would be at random moments that they are doing something together, like waiting at a restaurant, watching a movie, or walking around the store. Mike would stare off into the distance for some seconds, sometimes minutes until Zoey tried to get his attention.

Mal closed his eyes and signed with his hands in the pocket of his jacket.

Zoey couldn’t help but be worried. Mal tried to push her away and she sometimes found the other alters annoying, but she honestly cared about them as much as Mike. She had been spending a lot of time with Mike’s alters lately, and she could say that all of them were her friends. Spending time with them also means noticing when they are upset, sad, or not acting like themselves. 

“It’s just…” Mal said with his eyes closed.

Zoey could tell he was frustrated about something.

“God damn… I just… I just fucking hate this place.” Mal raised his voice and turned his head.

_ 'I'm so confused.' _

“Then, why are we here?”

“Jesus Christ. Are you sure you’re not fucking deaf? I already told you. I’m trying to prove that I’m trustworthy so that I can walk freely inside our subconscious and outside in the world without the others constantly being on my ass about everything I do.” 

‘Well maybe if you hadn’t chained them up and refused to let them take control of the body, then they wouldn’t be upset’ Zoey thought but refused to say out loud.

“We’re standing in front of a shed. Are you planning on doing something?” Zoey asked annoyed.

Mal scoffed, “Well someone’s impatient today.”

Now it was Zoey’s time to roll her eyes. 

* * *

Zoey watched Mal walk up closer to the door of the shed. Zoey could feel the mud on the ground as she shifted her weight onto her left leg. Mal reached out to the doors handle, probably covered in mud and dirty just like the house, the fence, and the yard. 

Mal turned the handle warily and slowly like you would if you were trying to enter a room without the person sleeping in it waking up. 

Mal sighed and then pulled on the door slowly. 

The inside was like the outside, dirty and undesirable, but it had a history. 

The shed had a table, a rake, a lawnmower, and some other stuff you would expect to find in it.

It seemed that Mal was inspecting what was in the shed as he still had his hand on the handle of the door. 

Zoey looked at him “Well?”

Mal rolled his eyes once again.

_ ‘He does that a lot.’ _

Mal warily walked to enter the shed like something was going to jump out and scare them.

Zoey slowly followed behind him. 

The shed was covered in dirt, mud, and cobwebs. 

“Oh thank fuck it’s here.” She heard Mal randomly say.

She was about to ask what until Mal raised an object to his chest. She stepped forward to get a closer look at what Mal was looking at. 

“A teddy bear?” she questioned

It was a generic brown teddy bear, but it had a bow tie, and it was dirty.

“Go ahead. Laugh.” Mal said. 

Zoey with a confused face said, “I’m not.”

Mal turned the teddy bear around in his hands and fiddled with it.

“Is this what you were trying to retrieve?”

“What do you think?”

“I was just making sure.” 

Mal looked back at the teddy bear.

“Let’s go home,” he suggested.

Zoey sighed, “Okay.”

* * *

As they got into the car, it started raining again. However. Zoey was now focused on the toy she was holding.

“Why?” she asked him.

He leaned back in the driver’s seat.

“It’s a memory.” He said like it explained everything.

Zoey fiddled with it until she heard a gasp that proceeded with sobbing. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. There are probably some errors, and I'm honestly not that good at writing, but I really love Mike and his alters. I've been researching Dissociative Identity Disorder (previously known as Multiple Personality Disorder) for a while now, and I wish the show could've more accurately portrayed it. I experience dissociation myself, so I tried to explain it in a way that's easy to understand. If you liked it be sure to let me know by leaving kudos or comments. I may make another fic related to this one if I feel like it. :)


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